The Tokyo Metro
Group is ready to assist Hanoi to manage a railway network and provide training
courses for its staff.

This was announced by Tadayyoshi Tohama, Director
of the Tokyo Metro Group, at a meeting with Nguyen Van Khoi, Vice Chairman of
the Hanoi municipal People’s Committee on December 1.

A delegation from the Japanese Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism visited Vietnam to seek investment
cooperation in Hanoi’s urban railway project.

Mr. Khoi briefed the Japanese guests on the
status quo of public transport in the capital as buses are the only means of
transport but do not meet public demands.

Up to 2020, the capital will have 5 railway lines
connecting inner Hanoi to other urban areas such as Bac Ninh, Vinh Phuc, Hung
Yen and Thai Nguyen.

The Nhon-Hanoi railway station on line No 3,
which connects western and southern areas, is already under construction. The
project will get funding from Japan and France.

Tadayyoshi Tohama said that the first railway
line in Japan was built in 1927 by Tokyo Metro Group. With a wealth of
management experience in this field, Mr. Tohama noted that every 1 million
people need one railway line and safety is given top priority.

Tokyo now has 13 lines. Of these, the Tokyo Metro
Group manages 9 serving 6.3 million people travelling on 891 km of track
everyday, accounting for 76 percent of all passengers using public transport.

VietNamNet/VOV